This spicy Thai cucumber salad has a classic Asian flavour, with a touch of sweetness and a hint of spiciness. I love Thai food, but I don’t usually know where to start when it comes to getting those amazing flavours. This recipe uses simple ingredients that you should be able to find on the shelves at your regular grocery store. It’s not overpoweringly spicy, just enough to give it a small kick and to take things up a notch! It tastes amazing and totally reminds me of the food served at my favourite Thai restaurant!
When we were in University, my sister and I joined the “Fine Dining Club”, which kind of sounds ridiculous now looking back, but it was a fantastic way for us to try out a bunch of the awesome little restaurants in our city that we never would have found. There was a group of about 8 of us, all studying different things in school, and we would meet at different restaurants and try adventurous new foods. We were students and none of us had a whole lot of money, so we couldn’t really afford the “gourmet” restaurants. So we went for international foods instead.
That’s how I discovered one of my very favourite restaurants – A fantastic little Vietnamese and Thai place! They have this vermicelli bowl that I always order, #303 (it’s one of those places were you order by number). I LOVE the flavours of that dish! It’s vermicelli topped with cucumber and carrot, served with fried spring rolls, and some meat on top. Yum! This spicy Thai cucumber salad reminds me of those flavours! So good!
As I was making it, the smell was making me sooooooo hungry! It smelled amazing! I couldn’t help but snack on it when I was taking the pictures because it was just oh-so-good! Twisting the cucumber noodles around the fork while I held it up for the photos was killing me. I just wanted to move the fork towards my mouth. Yum!
If you don’t have a vegetable spiralizer (I use the Paderno Vegetable Spiralizer), you can thinly slice the cucumber instead. I wanted my cucumber spiralized because it reminds me of the cucumber in my favourite vermicelli bowl.
Spicy Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe
The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post, but here’s what you’ll need:
- Cucumber
- Carrots
- Green Onions
- Peanuts
And for the Dressing:
- Rice Vinegar
- Sesame Oil
- Sugar
- Red Pepper Flakes
- Salt
This recipe was inspired by the Asian Sesame Cucumber Salad found at Will Cook for Friends and the Thai Cucumber Salad at Budget Bytes. So good!
I was hunting for a julienne peeler at the grocery store yesterday, but I couldn’t find one. So I used my mandolin instead. I got it years ago for Christmas from my mom. I dug it out from the basement and it still had some wrapping paper taped to the outside of it. I don’t use it very often because it’s kind of bulky, but it definitely made perfect julienne strips!
I can’t find my exact mandolin on Amazon, because mine is at least 12 years old and I don’t think the company exists anymore. But it’s similar to this Mandolin Slicer by OXO.
I love using my Vegetable Spiralizer!! For some reason I find it so satisfying to turn the handle and to watch the cucumber noodles come out in perfectly even strands.
This is a bowl full of two spiralized cucumbers. It doesn’t look like much here, but when it came time to mix it all together, I needed my biggest salad bowl to get it all to fit.
You can add as much spice as you want to your dressing! I used 1/2 teaspoon of red pepper flakes, and mine had just a hit of hotness to it. Although, my red pepper flakes are at least 6 years old, so I’m wondering if maybe they’ve lost some of their potency? If you’re sensitive to spice, go easy on the red pepper flakes, and only add as much as you can tolerate.
When I mixed it all together it looked just like the fish sauce they serve with my favourite vermicelli bowl. I mean, it’s lacking whatever the fish sauce part is, but the flavours are still pretty amazing!
Combine everything in a big salad bowl and toss it until it’s well combined.
Serve it with extra peanuts and green onions on top.
We had steak for dinner last night and served it as one of our side dishes.
But it would also make a great lunch on its own, especially if you add extra peanuts for protein!
If you find the cucumber noodles are too long when they come out of the vegetable spiralizer, you can cut them down with scissors if you need to. But I really loved being able to twist the cucumber noodles around my fork, just as you’d do with spaghetti!
Spicy Thai Cucumber Salad Recipe
Ingredients
For the Salad:
- 2 Seedless Cucumbers
- 2 Large Carrots
- 3 Green Onions
- 1/4 cup Peanuts
For the Dressing:
- 1/3 cup Rice Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon Sesame Oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes 1/4 teaspoon if you want it less spicy
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Spiralize the cucumbers. Cut the carrots into thin julienne strips. Thinnly slice the green onions. Chop the peanuts.
- Mix the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl, and whisk until well combined.
- Add the chopped vegetables to a large salad bowl. (Save some green onions and peanuts for garnish.)
- Pour the dressing over top and toss to combine.
- Garnish with extra chopped peanuts and green onions.
- Serve immediately.
This spicy Thai cucumber salad is such a great side dish! The flavour reminds me of my favourite Thai restaurant, but it uses simple ingredients that are easy to find! And how fun are those cucumber noodles!? It’s a delicious and simple recipe that once you’ve made it once, you’ll keep on craving it! So good!
You can also check out our list of meal sized loaded salads. I’m always worried a salad won’t fill me up, but these salads have it all!
Source : onelittleproject.com
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